Shannon Briggs

Shannon Briggs still sports his trademark orange dreadlocks, and although his pirate beard has got specks of gray in it, the charismatic 38-year-old still intends on capturing his third heavyweight championship belt. Briggs, 48-5-1 with 42 knockouts, will fight 6-foot-7 Cuban Rafael Pedro, who is 20-8-1 with 14 knockouts, in a scheduled 10-round bout Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Live. Briggs headlines an 11-bout card, along with several local novice boxers, including former University of Miami fullback James Bryant and former Florida Atlantic University linebacker Andre Clark.

It was a one-punch fight. Literally. Former WBO champion Shannon Briggs defeated Rafael Pedro in 28 seconds Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino to win the WBC Latin American title, one of the association's regional belts. And it only took one punch, a straight right. "Caught him," the 38-year-old Briggs, a longtime Pembroke Pines resident, said with a smile. "That's all I needed. All that running I was doing up and down on Pines Boulevard for one punch, but that's all it takes, that's all I needed."

The long bleach-blond dreadlocks piled high on Shannon Briggs' head is the first noticeable sign this is no ordinary boxer. He speaks his mind in an intelligent, poetic style. He talks about himself in third person and refuses a nickname. He dreams about acting, designing clothes and writing books with the help of his high school buddy Troy Taylor. A would-be-rapper and part-time model from the same Brownsville neighborhood in Brooklyn as Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe, Briggs, 26, of Miami Lakes, said he is the most misunderstood boxer in the heavyweight division.

BOXING Negotiations for a heavyweight unification bout between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield will be called off unless a contract is signed by Friday. Promoter Panos Eliades said Lewis, the WBC champion, will fight either James "Buster" Douglas or Shannon Briggs in March if no deal is reached with Don King by 5 p.m. Friday for a match with IBF and WBA champ Holyfield. ... New Jersey boxing commissioner Larry Hazzard said he had no financial interest in the Nov. 22 George Foreman-Shannon Briggs heavyweight fight and is being unfairly singled out for criticism.

Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs is the main event in Tuesday's boxing card at the Hard Rock. But the bulk of the show, represents the dream of Kris Lawrence, owner of The Heavyweight Factory, which seeks to turn former athletes, particularly college football players, into the next heavyweight champion. Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs is the main event in Tuesday's boxing card at the Hard Rock. But the bulk of the show, including James Bryant and Andre Clark, represents the dream of Kris Lawrence, owner of The Heavyweight Factory, which seeks to turn former athletes, particularly college football players, into the next heavyweight champion.

Heavyweight fighter Shannon Briggs faces felony charges in Washington, D.C., of threatening over the telephone to kill his former girlfriend last year. Briggs, 30, who knocked George Foreman into permanent retirement in 1997 and unsuccessfully challenged Lennox Lewis for the heavyweight title in 1998, was released from federal custody in Fort Lauderdale on a $50,000 bond. He was arrested by U.S. Marshals early Sunday after returning from a Caribbean cruise. Briggs, of Pembroke Pines, was picked up on a domestic violence warrant out of the District of Columbia that charges him with felony threats.

Shannon Briggs, splitting his time between the boxing ring and big screen, will promote his first local pro card in Davie. The 30-year-old Pembroke Pines heavyweight, who has been playing a Haitian mobster in Bad Boys 2, the Will Smith/Martin Lawrence sequel being filmed in South Florida, will be outside the ring Dec. 6 for Shannon Briggs Presents Pro Boxing at the Davie Paladium Athletic Village. No. 12 USBA junior welterweight Julio Aquino of the Dominican Republic heads the card that also includes an eight-round co-feature between former IBF cruiserweight world champion Imamu Mayfield against Davie's Garing Lane.

Their first fight was at a South Beach club three years ago, their rematch at a Miami-Dade County courtroom this week. In one corner of the courtroom sat former heavyweight boxing champion Shannon Briggs, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound bruiser from Pembroke Pines who has made a living taking on boxing greats such as George Foreman and Lennox Lewis. In the other corner, former University of Miami defensive lineman Brian Stinson, who at 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds is no tiny spectacle either, but said Briggs, 33, cut his gridiron career short by breaking his eye socket during a barroom brawl in 2001.

Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs is the main event in Tuesday's boxing card at the Hard Rock. But the bulk of the show, represents the dream of Kris Lawrence, owner of The Heavyweight Factory, which seeks to turn former athletes, particularly college football players, into the next heavyweight champion. Former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs is the main event in Tuesday's boxing card at the Hard Rock. But the bulk of the show, including James Bryant and Andre Clark, represents the dream of Kris Lawrence, owner of The Heavyweight Factory, which seeks to turn former athletes, particularly college football players, into the next heavyweight champion.

Shannon Briggs still sports his trademark orange dreadlocks, and although his pirate beard has got specks of gray in it, the charismatic 38-year-old still intends on capturing his third heavyweight championship belt. Briggs, 48-5-1 with 42 knockouts, will fight 6-foot-7 Cuban Rafael Pedro, who is 20-8-1 with 14 knockouts, in a scheduled 10-round bout Tuesday night at the Hard Rock Live. Briggs headlines an 11-bout card, along with several local novice boxers, including former University of Miami fullback James Bryant and former Florida Atlantic University linebacker Andre Clark.

Late last week, former heavyweight champion Oliver McCall could barely contain his optimism and excitement about his future. But after being arrested Saturday night in Fort Lauderdale on drug charges, McCall's future is dim, at best. The 44-year-old McCall (54-9), who was arrested for possession of cocaine and drug paraphernalia, was scheduled to fight Yuri Lawrence (24-15) as the headliner of an eight-fight card Tuesday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. But he's been scratched since his arrest.

The first time Scott Hirsch met his first fighter Mitch Green, he asked the Boca Raton businessman whether he had at least $5,000 in his bank account. When Hirsch smiled and told him yes, Green shook his head and said, "OK, you my manager." In three years, the 1984 Hollywood Hills graduate has become one of the most well-respected and sought after managers in boxing. His fighters are a combined 33-4 with four heavyweight championship fights, including Shannon Briggs' title-winner over Sergei Liakhovich.

Sultan Ibragimov was 9 years old when Evander Holyfield became a professional boxer. Twenty-three years later, the Hallandale Beach heavyweight will defend his World Boxing Organization title for the first time against the legendary four-time world champion in Moscow on Saturday. A journey that started in Delray Beach on May 25, 2002, when Ibragimov made his pro debut, is taking him back home in front of family and friends for "the biggest fight of my life." At 32, Ibragimov, the 2000 Olympic silver medalist with a 19-0-1 record, is in the best shape of his life, says his strength and conditioning coach, Jeremy Fedoruk of Wellington.

Newly crowned World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion Sultan Ibragimov had mixed emotions about his victory over Shannon Briggs late Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. "I woke up a world champion today," Ibragimov said. "I fought and I won, but I am not sure how I looked. It was different kind of fight for me." The quick-fisted Russian from Hallandale Beach has nothing to worry about. He won an impressive, tactical 12-round unanimous decision to dethrone the veteran Pembroke Pines boxer.

Shannon Briggs, a heavyweight contender for most of his life, is at the crossroads of his boxing career. At 33, Briggs wants to be taken seriously. Known more for his dreadlocks, movies and mixed martial arts battles for big money, Briggs gets the chance to quiet his critics on Friday in one of the biggest fights of his career when he takes on Ray Mercer. Briggs (42-4-1, 36 KOs) has the makings of a true life Rocky story. He was raised by his mother Margie, a heroin addict who worked three jobs to feed her huge son in the same Brownsville neighborhood Riddick Bowe and Mike Tyson grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. She died of a stroke in 1997.

Moments after defeating Ray Mercer on Friday night, Shannon Briggs let his intentions be known. During the postfight interview, he suggested that maybe it's time for a bout with WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko. It was difficult to tell whether Briggs is up to challenge after dispatching Mercer in the seventh round at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Mercer, 44, is another fading fighter not yet ready to quit boxing. Briggs ended the fight with three punches to the head that knocked Mercer to the canvas.

Russian heavyweight Sultan Ibragimov of Hallandale Beach won his first career title with a 12-round unanimous decision over defending World Boxing Organization champion Shannon Briggs of Pembroke Pines on Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J. Ibragimov (21-0-1, 17 KOs) relied on quick hands and punishing straight lefts to the head for the decisive victory over Briggs (48-5-1, 42 KOs). Despite a 52-pound weight disadvantage, the 6-foot-2, 221-pound Ibragimov led every round and got stronger as the fight progressed.

Half the battle will be won when heavyweight Shannon Briggs steps into the ring tonight. Making his first World Boxing Organization title defense against mandatory challenger Sultan Ibragimov at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., Briggs would like to win the other half by silencing the Russian and his camp "once and for all" on the four-bout pay-per-view card that begins at 9 p.m. Briggs was accused of ducking Ibragimov since he was forced because...